IF: Your styles and characteristics have changed drastically since you began your career.
1985's Maximum Security was a good display of electronics in your sound, but nowhere
near as efficiently as on Nocturnal Emissions. Can you explain what inspired you to
change your sound?
Mrs. Fiend: Well first off 1985 was THIRTEEN YEARS ago!!
Nik Fiend: A lot of water under the bridge since then!
Mrs. Fiend: Technology has moved on a great deal since then. For a start things like
MIDI were only just happening at that time, there weren't any samplers, not affordable
ones anyway! Things like the Fairlight might have been around then but you'd have been
looking at $10,000 or $20,000 for that!! The sequencers available at that time were
pretty basic too, and lots of stuff was unreliable for live use & we like to be able
to have the option of playing all our recorded songs live so that was an important
consideration in buying equipment.
Nik Fiend: What's weird is that at the time the "Maximum Security"
album was released it was perceived by some people as being very
different to what had come before but now it is totally accepted by
people. So I think the same thing will happen with the "Nocturnal
Emissions" album.
Mrs. Fiend: It will definitely grow on people & become more & more
popular as time goes on. Like all our albums seem to do!
Nik Fiend: It seems that we are always ahead of our time!
Mrs. Fiend: When we decided to re-evaluate where we were going as a
band, as artists & as people back in 1992/93 we took on the "Inferno" CD
Rom computer game soundtrack project, it was a whole new challenge & a
new area to explore. From doing that we learnt a lot about using
computers for music & art & so on, & about remixing, oh all sorts of
things, met new people, listened to lots of new music etc, etc. Also Nik
learnt a lot more about sound engineering, recording & mixing, so we
have been able to put a lot of that new knowledge into the "Nocturnal
Emissions" album & the various singles ("Evolution", "Evolution
Remixes", "On A Mission Remixes" and soon to be released "Tarot"). Also
the last studio album, "Open Head Surgery", was released back in '92,
which was 5 years before "Nocturnal Emissions" was being recorded, AND
"Inferno" came after that in '94, so we have had quite a few years'
worth of knowledge, learning, experience, life, etc etc to include in
"Nocturnal Emissions"! I think if we had done a new album every year say
from '92 or '94 it would not appear to be a big change. Anyway we have
always used technology, drum machines & things like that since day one
of the band, so we don't see this album as really being any different to
any thing else we have done...
Nik Fiend: It is just Alien Sex Fiend! We have always said "Expect the
unexpected" (laughs) so that's it!! (laughs)
IF: How have long time fans responded to your gradual change in musical approach?
Nik Fiend: The fans are changing TOO remember! Life changes everybody &
everything. The one thing you can be sure of is that things will change.
Mrs Fiend: As Nik's lyrics said in the song "Evolution" (single from
"Nocturnal Emissions") "Evolve or Die". i.e. change or stagnate.
Nik Fiend: We have really loyal long term fans, they seem to like Alien
Sex Fiend BECAUSE we change & because they don't know what's coming
next. It is exciting for them, & us. It keeps an edge to the music that
way. Obviously a few people will drop off, they get into other things...
Mrs Fiend: or go off music!
Nik Fiend: People do change you know! The fact that someone has been
into even ONE song that we recorded is fine by me, you can't expect
EVERYONE to LOVE EVERYTHING you do. That's unreasonable.
Mrs Fiend: Though some fans do!!
Nik Fiend: Hmmm yea quite a lot actually!
Mrs Fiend: Gawd bless 'em! (laughs)
Nik Fiend: Also trying to second guess what fans might like would just
be stupid. Our fans are so diverse there really is no one "Magic
Formula" that we can use. The music comes out as it wants to.
Mrs Fiend: We have of course also gained new fans with the new songs &
in fact gathered some up again that had dropped off in the late 80s for
whatever reason. So it's kind of weird. It just seems for loads of fans
that once you get into Alien Sex Fiend music you are usually hooked!
Nik Fiend: Or fucked!! (laughs)
IF: Given the extent of your excursions in music, do you find yourself more
interested in the electro genre or the gothic genre that youve always been
associated with?
Mrs Fiend: We actually have a big problem with music categories. We do
understand that it makes journalists' lives a bit easier to be able to
categorise music, but to be honest we have been included in all of the
following categories in books & music guides, web site search engines
etc - punk, rock, gothic, batcave, alternative, psychobilly, electro,
electronic, industrial, techno,...
Nik Fiend: Space rock!
Mrs Fiend: Yes! & "Independent", so you tell me which category we
BELONG in!!? We've even been in Heavy Metal magazines!
Nik Fiend: I think it's down to the perception of each person...
Mrs Fiend: I would prefer to be in the "weird & wonderful" category, or
just the "Alien Sex Fiend" category!
Nik Fiend: Well where would you categorise something like Frank Zappa
or Captain Beefheart? Categories are "movements" & as such they often
exclude people for some stupid reson like they ain't got the "right"
haircut or the "right" jacket or shoes or something. It is often
"fashion" orientated rather than about the MUSIC. So we don't really
agree with these categories. We have ALL sorts of people that come to
our live shows & buy our records & I welcome them ALL. Our music is a
mixture of all sorts so our fans will also be a mixture of all sorts.
Mrs Fiend: As for the type of music we LISTEN to well - again it is a
right old mixture!
Nik Fiend: Just today for example I have had the following on the ol'
turntables - The Orb, Ozzy Osborne...
Mrs Fiend: It was "No More Tears" that's a great song!
Nik Fiend: Public Enemy & some of our own stuff too, that's quite a
mixture already & it's only 4.15pm!
Mrs Fiend: I personally do like some of what is classed as "techno" or
"drum & bass" & "big beat" stuff BUT it has to have an edge, be a bit
weird, a bit interesting. I am NOT interested in commercial "dance"
music AT ALL. That stuff is just formulaic & we don't like music made to
a formula. It's got to have something... well "special" really.
IF: Most bands form a side-project to delineate their different styles of
music. What made you stick with the Alien Sex Fiend title on Nocturnal
Emissions?
Mrs Fiend: Well Nik & I were still in Alien Sex Fiend & we always have
been so it would have been a bit odd to change the name of the band!!
Nik Fiend: We really don't think that "Nocturnal Emissions" is THAT
different. If you have heard ALL of our albums then you wouldn't
perceive it as being that different.
Mrs Fiend: Yes, I think it depends so much on what previous ASF songs
you know, if you know the more electronic tunes from earlier albums like
the "Maximum Security" album or things like...
Nik Fiend: The "Haunted House" single, "Here Cum Germs" dub & so on,
then it really isn't that different. We have always been into drum
machines & weird noises & all that & we still are. "Nocturnal Emissions"
IS different BUT because each Alien Sex Fiend album is different it
isn't THAT different!!!
Mrs Fiend: Well I hope that lot makes sense to you! (laughs)
Nik Fiend: It is a bit of a sort of tongue twister I guess!!
IF: Over the years, you have obtained quite a cult following. Do you find
a lot of fans to be original followers, or are you attracting a newer
generation?
Nik Fiend: We have sort of touched on this earlier, but yes we have
BOTH, lots of original followers as well as newer fans.
Mrs Fiend :We met someone when we were DJing recently who had been to
our 3rd ever gig! & he was still well up for the new stuff. Plus we get
letters from people who have just discovered us & are very upset that
they have been missing all this fun for so long! I think every album we
have released has attracted a new bunch of fans. It's an ever growing
thing!
Nik Fiend: At the live shows it's quite weird because you see certain
sections of the audience go completely potty when certain songs are
played & then another section goes mad for a different song.
Mrs Fiend: So different people have different favourites. It seems to
vary so much. We tried to do a poll of fans' favourite songs at one time
& had to give up because we got votes for so many different songs we
couldn't really reduce it down to a "Top Ten" or even a "Top 20" of
favourite songs. Also, a friend of ours is a DJ & he is getting 17 & 18
year olds requesting songs like "E.S.T." from 1984 so they were only
like 3 or 4 & weren't even record buyers back then! AND they are asking
for "Evolution" too so it just seems a lot of our stuff is timeless
really.
IF: I know Cleopatra carries some of your older work in the states. Does your music
get more of a response in Europe or America?
Nik Fiend: We have fans all over the world & wherever we play live
shows the people that come to see us love it. Some of them travel a long
long way to get to shows too.
Mrs Fiend: We get fan mail from all over too, even from way out places
like Peru & The Philippines. I don't know whether you mean live or
record sales or what on this question! We haven't played live in the US
for 6 years so it would be hard to gauge current response in that area,
but to judge from the mail & emails we get I think there'll be lots of
very happy people if a tour comes together. In terms of record sales
again the new album "Nocturnal Emissions" has been going great in Europe
but it hasn't been widely available in the US although we now FINALLY
have distribution sorted, so...
Nik Fiend: So it should soon be available at a domestic price!
Mrs Fiend: Hooray! Instead of the high import prices for which we
apologise but there wasn't much we could do about that at that time. So
we'll have to see how it goes... Some of the earlier albums either
weren't released in the US or releases were sporadic or were available
for a while & then not, so Cleopatra are sort of releasing a lot of that
older material on a series of compilations, they are up to the 3rd one
now & there's plenty more material to go!
IF: What has been your best selling album to date, and which album is your
favorite?
Mrs Fiend: Well actually they are ALL still selling!
Nik Fiend: There doesn't seem to be ONE that is the main one. Unlike
some bands who have one big seller & then not a lot before or
afterwards. Ours just keep selling. Also our albums sell all over the
world so if we have fewer sales in one country we may have loads in
another, so that evens it out. When some albums sell more in some
countries than others that's often down to availability. Import prices
are so high that it can reduce the amount of sales. But it does seem
that Alien Sex Fiend albums are a long term thing, they sell all the
time, even the first album is still selling...
Mrs Fiend: The old record company are re-pressing that at the moment.
Nik Fiend: Basically they have all sold enough 'cos we wouldn't have
been able to continue making them if they didn't sell! Believe me record
companies don't release our records for a laugh!! They are looking at
making a profit you know!
IF: Did you find it hard to start 13th Moon, or was it natural for you to
create your own label? How does it feel to be your own boss(es)?
Mrs Fiend - It was hard to start & it's hard to continue it as well
(laughs)
Nik Fiend: It's hard full stop! (laughs)
Mrs Fiend: Ooh er missus! Freudian slip there, Nik!
Nik Fiend: Um! Er! Ha! Ha! Ha! Right to get back to the question! Well
it's not HARD exactly but there is a lot to it, a lot more than we
thought to be honest. The only way we could do it is to just do it, you
can't really buy a book on "How to release ASF records". So we just got
stuck in & we're still going so that'll do me! Loads of other labels
that started out at around the same time have folded & gone bust so
we're doing fine. It was definitely a natural thing for us in that we
felt we could do a better job! "Evolution" was the best selling single
we ever had in Europe so.... We felt who is there better to do it than
us? & who will care about it more than us? We know what we want to
achieve, we were already involved in so many aspects anyway that it was
the next logical step to set up our own record company.
Mrs Fiend: There were a lot of new areas that we had to learn about
like calculating bar codes for example, something we had never thought
of & not an area that immediately springs to mind when you start up! But
we've managed to cope with it all so far. Luckily we have made some
great friends over the years who are involved in the "business" so we
have been able to ask them for advice too.
Nik Fiend: We kind of have always been "our own bosses" in most
respects the record company was the only area that we weren't. Now...
Mrs Fiend: We can only get cross with ourselves!! (laughs)
Nik Fiend: Yep! We had to assume more control in order to REALLY be
able to get where we wanted to go.
IF: Your last full-length album was 1997's Nocturnal Emissions. Are there
any plans for a new release, and is your sound going to be similar to
Nocturnal Emissions?
Nik Fiend: We are about to release (September 21st) a new 12" single
"Tarot" which has 3 new mixes...
Mrs Fiend: None of which were on the "Nocturnal Emissons" album.
Nik Fiend: We have done 2 of the mixes ourselves as "Fiend At The
Controls"
Mrs Fiend :They're great
Nik Fiend: They ARE!!
Mrs Fiend: They are really quite different from the album version, &
there's drums, Nik's vocals, & even a power guitar riff on there! Oh &
303 bass! It's really fast too. It's got the lot! NO ONE will be able to
sit still when they hear it!
Nik Fiend: As for a new album we already have ideas that we're working
on but when exactly it will be released we're not sure.
Mrs Fiend: We will wait till it's finished first & then sort out
release dates with licensees, distributors & all that business stuff.
Nik Fiend: Now there is not just the recording involved anymore!! We
have to look at all the later areas too like manufacturing & so on.
Sound wise we really haven't got a clue as to what the overall feel will
be...
Mrs Fiend: We never know until the whole thing is completed, then it
all drops into place...
Nik Fiend: For us it is like working on a jigsaw puzzle, the full
picture isn't revealed until it is completed. I do have a feeling that
it could well be harder than "Nocturnal Emissions" to judge by the
"Tarot" mixes but again we won't really know until it's finished.
IF: What are the plans for ASF in the future?
Nik Fiend: More! Much more!
Mrs Fiend: We have masses of ideas...
Nik Fiend: Cor fuck yeah that's the truth!! (Laughs) So much to do...
so little time! We have done some collaborations, one with Dan Zamani
(he worked on some of the "Evolution" mixes) as "Antman B" which is
rather different from "Alien Sex Fiend" though a few people who have
heard the stuff reckons it is obviously Alien Sex Fiend so....
Mrs Fiend: But because it was co-written with Dan it will have to be a
side project & under a different artist name, it isn't just Nik & my
view it really is a 3 way thing.
Nik Fiend: So it is different. But when & how that stuff will be
released I am not too sure as Dan has to be involved with any decisions
too. We have a few remix projects in the pipeline as well but can't
really say much at the moment 'cos they may not work out! We intend to
do a cover version of a David Bowie song for a Cleopatra Records tribute
album so that should be interesting... we haven't totally decided on
which song to cover yet, we have about 3 contenders.
IF: Any last comments?
Nik Fiend: We are really hoping to get back to the US very soon. We are
trying to get a short North East tour sorted for end of October, early
November, Hallowe'en time! Which would be great.
Mrs Fiend: But it is not confirmed yet so keep your eyeballs peeled for
more news! Either write to or email Blue Crumb Truck (see addresses
below), or check our website at http://www.asf-13thmoon.demon.co.uk
For Alien Sex Fiend mail order records, T-Shirts & other merchandise
write to Mel at Blue Crumb Truck, P.O.Box 416, Cardiff CF1 8XU, UK
(please enclose an International Reply Coupon if possible)
Or check the Alien Sex Fiend website at
http://www.asf-13thmoon.demon.co.uk
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